Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic met in the semifinals of the 2009 Miami Open for the first time in almost seven months. It was their only duel in Florida and Novak won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 46 minutes.
Djokovic thus advanced to his seventh Masters 1000 final and retained his position in the top 3 ahead of Andy Murray
. The Serb defeated the Swiss for the third time in ten duels. It was also the first duel in their rivalry where the winning player lost the first set and ended up winning.
The match is also remembered for Roger’s tantrums. Federer smashed his racquet, received a warning, was rarely booed and refused to shake Fergus Murphy’s hand!
Novak won 19 points more than Roger, converting half of the return points into six breaks from ten chances. The Swiss grabbed four breaks, which wasn’t enough to send him home after 40 unforced errors.
Federer opened the match with a forehand crosscourt winner and drew 2-1 with a stop volley winner at the net in game three.
Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer from behind in Miami 2009.
Djokovic played a backhand error in game four and fell behind as he was 3-1 down.
Roger secured Game 5 with two winners on Game 5 debut to cement the lead and find a good rhythm. Losing ground, Novak netted a routine backhand to fall 5-1 down in game six and hold at love for Roger to win the set.
The Serb clawed back a break in game seven after the Swiss played a loose forehand and held at 15 in the next game to close the gap. Roger served to win the set for the second time at 5-3 and secured it when Novak played a forehand wide.
Djokovic hit a service winner early in the second set and broke Federer in game two with a deep return at 15. The Serb denied a break ball in game three and brought it home with a forehand winner for a 3-0 lead.
Roger got the break in game five from Novak’s double fault and had a cue ball in the next game that could have put him 3-3 up. Instead, Djokovic saved himself and played hard to create five break chances.
The Serb took the last chance after the rival played a loose forehand to take a 4-2 lead. Novak held at 15 in game seven and broke his opponent again shortly after to take the set 6-2 and give himself a boost ahead of the decider.
The Serb held at the start of the final set with a service winner and continued his streak on the return. Novak stole serve from Roger for the third straight season, causing frustration in his rival. Federer netted a routine forehand in the second point of the third game and then smashed his racquet to lose focus and nerves.
Battling his opponent, Roger played a forehand error in game four to find himself 4-0 down and suffering his fourth break in a row. Federer closed the gap with a break in game five after a volley winner at the net before Djokovic kept close to two games later to retain the lead.
The Swiss fired off four winning shots at 2-5 to extend the match while the Serb served for victory in the next game. Staying focused, Novak won the ninth game by 15 points to celebrate triumph and advance to the final against Andy Murray.
